Interview With RoseOfBattle

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For this interview I decided to interview Rose, she streams a variety of games while streaming she has such good presence of camera that I wanted to have the opportunity to talk to her about streaming. A little about Rose ‘I’m Rose Of Battle, but you can call me Rose or Carly! I’m a part-time streamer on Twitch who really likes Splatoon 2. I also love writing and reading (my day job is in publishing), watching anime, and cosplaying. Video games have been a part of my life for about as far back as I can remember.’

Jessica: ‘What is your opinion on Esports?’
Rose: ‘I’m a casual Esports fan. I don’t closely follow any particular team (though I do enjoy watching videos of Geguri’s plays in Overwatch). I grew up playing a lot of Super Smash Bros., and I got really good for my age when Melee tournaments started, but the scene intimidated me as a teenage girl. While the environment and communities surrounding Esports have become a little more welcoming in recent years, there are always some men who try to gatekeep women and trans men out of these spaces, claiming that we aren’t as skilled or just need to somehow be tolerant of attacks on who we are. I still experience gendered insults in Overwatch every now and then, but I’ve fortunately made several friends who make these spaces fun, positive, and accepting, and I’m so grateful for that!’
Jessica: ‘Would you ever want to get involved with an Esports team or become a ‘pro’ gamer?’
Rose: ‘I don’t think I’d ever want to become a professional Esports player, but I do think it’d be cool to play in a Splatoon 2 team! One of the hard parts about Splatoon 2 is that there’s no voice communication in the game without an app (that hardly anyone uses) or chatting through Discord, which you can only do with people you already know. Forming a team of four to play in games together and coordinate team plays would be so cool. I love watching the regional and international Splatoon tournaments, such as the world championship during last year’s E3; I daydream about playing in one of those, but I’m definitely not at the skill level, haha.’
Jessica: ‘With streaming, what inspired you to stream in the first place?’
Rose: ‘A few of my friends had streamed on Twitch before, but what really inspired me was watching Cuppcaake’s streams. She is a big bundle of positivity! I decided I wanted to bring that positivity to Twitch as well, beyond being a viewer. I began streaming with Overwatch and Stardew Valley, plus occasionally costume construction, mostly as a way to chat and laugh with friends. Then I got a capture card for my Nintendo Switch and started streaming Splatoon 2 on the regular. I’ve met a lot of other Splatoon players and streamers!’

Jessica: ‘How do you keep a healthy mentality and a healthy lifestyle?’
Rose: ‘This has been something I’m constantly working on. I live a fairly sedentary lifestyle (I work at a desk, I stream at a desk, haha), but I try to stay physically healthy just by doing something active for an hour almost every day; lately, I’ve been playing Just Dance and Dance Dance Revolution! What’s more challenging is keeping myself mentally healthy. I actually quit Overwatch for a year and a half because I was so tired of the hate-filled text and voice communications throughout matches I played in. While these attitudes aren’t as present in Splatoon 2 thanks to the lack of comms, I have felt so frustrated with the way matches have gone that I’ve let strings of defeats upset me far more than they should. Now I remind myself that if I’m ever not having a fun time playing a game, I need to take a break from it. I acknowledge when I’m feeling angry, frustrated, or sad, but I try not to linger on it. I actually keep track of my mood day-by-day in my planner just so that I can be more aware of my emotions. And at the end of the day, I have a wonderful support system in my family and friends, so I know I can lean on them whenever my mental health is taking a turn for the worse. Sometimes you just need a break to rest up, just like you would with a physical illness.’

Jessica: ‘What would your advice be to streamers and gamers who want to prioritise gaming/streaming but also want to lead a healthy lifestyle?’
Rose: ‘Absolutely set a schedule for yourself! Not only does this help your viewers know when you’ll be on, but it can also keep you from streaming too much or too little. I have two nights set up every week when I’ll be streaming, and if I ever have extra free time, I’ll set up extra streams. As much as I enjoy playing games and streaming, I also love spending time with my husband and friends, so I want to make sure that I’m keeping up with my personal relationships. Don’t underestimate the power of going out for a walk in the sun or hanging out with the people most important to you. Also, having multiple hobbies keeps me from feeling burned out, and I know I have a great community that will support me if I ever feel like I need to cancel a stream for my wellbeing.’

Jessica: ‘Has gaming/streaming helped you overcome challenges in your life?’
Rose: ‘I have mild anxiety, which is fortunate in that I’m able to manage it on my own with coping strategies and behaviour that I’ve learned through a counsellor and years of practice (I’m still working on this!), but it does put me on edge and irritable in new or stressful situations. Streaming hasn’t particularly helped me with this as much as learning to recognize when I feel a certain way and why has, but it has introduced me to many people who go through similar things! Sometimes feeling less alone in your brain trying to feed you worst-case scenarios is enough to encourage you to practice positive thinking. I use my stream as a way to talk about mental health to help lessen the stigma and as a place where people can relax and have fun.’
Jessica: ‘Have you ever had to deal with toxic behaviour instream or games?’
Rose: ‘Overwatch is unfortunately the most common occurrence of this, as I’m sure many players have experienced. Beyond hearing racist and transphobic slurs not directed at me, I’ve been called derogatory insults just for being a woman or having a feminine-sounding voice and username. Most recently, I was playing a match in which a player switched off of a support character to a tank character. As someone who was already playing a tank but also enjoys playing support, I volunteered to switch to support to fill in. Immediately, a man on the team opened his mic to insist that I be the one to play support solely because I was the only obviously female-presenting person on the team. I admit that this always makes me mad–after all, why shouldn’t it? It’s completely unacceptable behaviour. If it ever gets to the point where I feel like a person is hindering my enjoyment of the game or distracting me from the match, I’m quick to mute and block them, as well as report them for their harassment.’

Jessica: ‘How would you describe your attitude towards streaming?’
Rose: ‘I approach streaming as a way to share my love for certain video games with other people and make a space where kind, respectful people are welcome to chat and make friends. It’s also been a great motivator for improving my Splatoon plays, hahaha.’
Jessica: ‘What is the intention of your stream?’
Rose: ‘If my streams can inspire people to treat others with respect, then I’m happy! I’ve taken time during streams to explain why toxic behaviour makes spaces less safe for people who are already less safe out in the physical world, and I’ve even discussed politics, because I feel there are many issues that impact our daily lives. We recently discussed proposed legislation that would make student loans harder to pay off. I’d like everyone to be more informed of the wider world and, especially, of people from different backgrounds.’
Jessica: ‘How long have you been streaming for?’
Rose: ‘My very first stream was on July 19, 2018, so in a couple of months it’ll have been a year!’
Jessica: ‘What advice would you give to people who have just started streaming?’

Rose: ‘Make sure you know what you want out of streaming. Are you approaching it as a way to make friends or as a potential source of income, or a mixture of both? I recommend going into streaming as it a hobby. You don’t need to drop a ton of money on equipment to get started. My streams certainly aren’t at the same professional level as people who have been doing this for years, but it’s a learning process! If you approach this as a zero-sum game rather than making friends with people who are willing to help you and support you (and you do the same for them), you’re probably going to burn out fast. But most importantly, look out for your health. Don’t start streaming by doing tons of 12-hour streams day after day.’
Jessica: ‘What are your aspirations when it comes to streaming?’
Rose: ‘My stream has grown a lot in the past six months thanks to the support of my fantastic team, The Twitch Bakery, and my viewers who come to my stream for who I am. If I could make it to partner one day, I would be overwhelmingly happy! But I know that’s just the starting point for so much more to come! It’s also something I don’t want to rush; I want my stream to grow organically, and even if I never get partnered, as long as I’ve made a corner of Twitch into a welcoming place, I’m proud I’ve what I’ve done.’

Thank you so much to Rose for taking part in the interview, not only that but opening up and sharing experiences that she has had. It was a pleasure to hear about her experiences and I hope everyone reading can take tips, and feel inspired to keep streaming or maybe even start streaming.

To find Rose you can find her at Roseofbattle on Twitch, or find her on her socials!
‘You can find me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/roseofbattle/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/roseofbattle where I post about video games, cosplay, and my absolutely wonderful cat! And to my fellow Inklings and Octolings of Splatoon, always booyah back!’